1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container deposit refund system for refunding the deposit already paid on cans and similar type containers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for refunding the deposit on containers only when they are determined to be authentic, thus preventing the act of counterfeiting.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, deposit bottles have been used to distribute soft drinks and other beverages in order to assure the containers return. This was due to the fact that the container had a value which prevented the container from being disposed of after use. Because of the expense of these containers, reuse was required. With the advent of non-deposit bottles and cans this type of container has seen less use in recent years. The cost of these non-deposit bottles and cans was actually less than the cost of recycling deposit bottles.
With the recent emphasis on preserving the ecology of our country, it has become desirable to use more deposit beverage containers in order to prevent the pollution of the environment which occurs when these containers are disposed of. Litter has become an ever-increasing problem in our country, and as a result, the need has been felt to require beverage containers to be accompanied by a deposit refundable upon return of the container. This refunding requirement for bottles and cans has created an added burden for the distributors of these bottles and cans since the cans must be manually collected from customers and the deposits returned. Also, the retail distributor must store the returned cans awaiting their pick up by the wholesale distributor.
Various automatic can refund devices have existed in prior art, however, these devices have all suffered from ease of substituting the authentic can to be refunded with a less desirable counterfeit one. In order to make systems such as this functional, it is necessary to determine with reasonable certainty the difference between authentic containers which are to be collected for a refund and undersirable containers and counterfeits which are not to be collected.